KINGFA Young Investigator Award

Awards and Fellowships

Sponsored by Kingfa Scientific and Technology Co., the KINGFA Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding contributions by young investigators to the science and chemical technology of cellulose and renewable materials. This is an annual award administered by the ACS CELL Division Awards Chair.

The winner of the Award shall receive an invitation to give a presentation in recognition of the recipient at the ACS Annual meeting, $1,500 cash, a plaque, up to $500 in travel expenses and a complimentary Division Awards Banquet ticket.

Eligibility

Any ACS member who is also a CELL Division member in good standing and whose fortieth birthday is on or after the deadline for submission of nomination materials shall be eligible for the Award.

Solicitation for Nominations

The Awards Chair shall send out solicitation for nominations by March 15 each year. Each nomination requires one nominator and two support letters from non-nominators. Nominators and nominees shall fill out the nomination form and send the completed nomination form and letters of support in one PDF file electronically to the Awards Committee Chair before the nomination deadline. Nominators and nominees shall abide by the guidelines in the Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Standards section of this procedure.

Important Deadlines

Determination of a Winner

Judges in the Judging Panel shall review nomination materials and rank the nominees in order of preference with the number one being the most preferred. Numerical rankings for each nominee shall be totaled and the nominee with the lowest numerical score shall be the winner of the Award. All judges are required to rank all nominees. Scores from judges that did not rank every nominee shall be discarded from calculation of final rankings of all nominees. If two or more nominees are tied for the lowest numerical score, a second ballot shall be taken to determine the winner. The second ballot shall include only the names of the nominees tied for the lowest numerical score and the same numerical ranking method shall be used to determine the winner. If there are nominees tied for the lowest numerical score after the second ballot, the Awards Chair may continue to run additional ballots using the numerical ranking method to determine a winner among candidates still tied for the lowest numerical score, or call face-to-face meetings, webmeetings or conference calls with judges to determine the winner of the Award. The Awards Chair and the judges in the Judging Panel shall abide to the Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Standards guidelines in this procedure.

Deadline	Date
Appointment of new judges	March 1
Solicitation	No later than March 15
Nomination deadline	April 15
Nomination files due to judges	May 15
Judges return first ballot to Awards Chair	June 15
Send ballot to judges for second balloting (if necessary)	June 30
Judges return second ballot to Awards Chair (if necessary)	July 15
Awards Chair run additional ballots or judging meeting (if necessary)	July 22
Awards Chair obtains acceptance of the Award from the selectee	July 29
Awards Chair informs Division of the winner	August 1
Announcement of Award winner	August 15 or the week before the ACS Fall meeting, whichever earliest

Judging Panel

The Division shall establish a Judging Panel to determine the winner of the Award according to the procedures in Determination of Winners. The Judging Panel shall consist of six members, three are Award winners and three are other appointed judges.

Terms of Judges

Except for some of the members of the initial Judging Panel and judges appointed to fill in uncompleted terms, all judges shall serve three-year terms. Terms of judges shall be staggered such that each year the terms of two judges, one an Award winner and one other appointed judge, shall expire. Judges appointed to fill a vacancy shall only serve the remainder of the term of the vacated position.

Appointment of Judges

Each year, the Division Chair shall appoint the recent Award winner and one other judge to the judging panel to replace the two judges whose terms have expired. The judge who is not the recent Award winner shall be recommended by the Division Chair-Elect for appointment by the Division Chair. The Division Chair shall complete appointment of judges before March 1.

The Initial Judging Panel

For the Initial Judging Panel, six judges shall be recommended by the Division Chair-Elect for appointment by the Division Chair. Of the six initial judges, two judges shall serve a one-year term, two judges shall serve a two-year term and the remaining two judges shall serve a three-year term. Each year, the Division Chair shall follow guidelines for Appointment of Judges to replace the two judges whose terms have expired. All replacement judges shall serve three-year terms.

Fill-In Judges

If a judge vacates the position before the end of the term, or if the current Award winner is unable to accept the appointment to the Judging Panel, the Division Chair shall, in consultation with the Division Chair-Elect and the Division Awards Chair, appoint judges to fill in the positions. The fill-in judges shall not be restricted to Award winners. The fill-in judges shall either serve the unexpired portion of the terms or in the case of filling in for the current Awards winner, a three year term.

Past Winners

Year	Awardee	Institution
2022	Koon-Yang Lee	Imperial College London
2021	Feng Jiang	University of British Columbia
2020	Gustav Nystrom	EMPA
2019	E. Johan Foster	University of British Columbia
2018	Silvia Vignolini	University of Cambridge
2017	Liangbing Hu	University of Maryland College Park
2016	Emily Cranston	McMaster University

Recent Winner

2022 KINGFA Young Investigator Award

2021 - Feng Jiang, University of British Columbia
2020 - Gustav Nystrom, EMPA
2019 - E. Johan Foster, University of British Columbia
2018 - Silvia Vignolini, University of Cambridge
2017 - Liangbing Hu, University of Maryland College Park
2016 - Emily Cranston, McMaster University